It was literally a toss-up between two Congress candidates for an organisational post in Himachal Pradesh with a flip of the coin sealing their fate.

It was literally a toss-up between two Congress candidates for an organisational post in Himachal Pradesh with a flip of the coin sealing their fate.

In the toss, lady luck smiled on Puran Chand Thakur who bested Prakash Chaudhary to become district Congress president in Mandi, a seat represented by Union Steel Minister and five-time Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh in Lok Sabha.

The political drama was enacted on Tuesday in Mandi in presence of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Kaul Singh Thakur and district returning officer Krishan Mohini.

Congress general secretary in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Mohsina Kidwai was not available for comments.

It started when Thakur and Chaudhary refused to withdraw their names from the contest despite requests from office-bearers that only one remain in the fray.

As the political temperature increased and after all other options to pacify them failed, the office-bearers persuaded the two contestants to settle for a toss.

Former party legislator, Surinder Pal acted as a referee and declared Thakur winner. To give the process credibility, Mandi Sadar legislator Anil Sharma proposed Thakur’s name for the post and former Nachen legislator Tek Chand Dogra seconded it.

Elections were held for 10 out of the total 12 districts in the state and all the candidates were elected by consensus and not contest.